lnitially it’s the glorious halo of snow white curls that attracts you to
Fiona Bevan’s debut album; don’t let anybody tell you cover aft isn’t
important. As the beam traces the disc (doesn’t have the same ring
to it as needle on vinyl!), it’s the extraordinary voice that commands
attention, an instrument of sweet beauty lying somewhere between Kate Bush and quirky American folk singer Anais Mitchell. Finally, it is the sheer infectiousness of this literate and, at times, complex music that sinks its claws into you.

Having written a global Number One for boy band One Direction, Bevan clearly has an ear for a hook, but don’t let her clientele cloud your vision, for this is popular music with intelligence.

The 12 songs were all penned by Bevan and lyrically draw heavily upon her literature background, with numerous film and literary references. Album opener ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ metaphorically references James Dean in a commentary about the London riots, whilst’Exorcist’ is inspired by Daphne Du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’. Despite the uplifting elegance of its melody,’Us And The Darkness’
is cloaked in the heartbreak of a shattered romance, and ‘Dial D For Denial’ is simply pop artistry.

TalkTo Strangers was recorded direct on analogue equipment, with Bevan playing everything from ukulele, piano, guital harp, violin, double bass and accordion, truly a one-woman show. The crowning glory is album closer’Last Days Of Decadence’, a lone piano reflecting the emotional ebbs and flows of her exhortations on the financial crisis. Four years in the making, TalkTo Strangers is pop imbued with folk sensibilities, as idiosyncratic as it is enchanting, and Fiona Bevan as startling a talent as any to emerge in recent years.

TrevorJ. leeden